Landforms of Central PA

Here is a fascinating map of the various geologic and geographical regions of Pennsylvania. For those of you curious, you can find Clearfield County in the corner between the Pittsburgh Low Plateau, the Allegheny Front, and the Allegheny High Plateau Deep Valleys sections.

Although the map would contradict, Clearfield's "mountain" is a finger of the Allegheny High Plateau that descends south. The front of the high plateau then runs to the northeast parallel to the West Branch, north of Frenchville and Karthaus. The Allegheny Front is the great mountain that goes runs from Somerset to Altoona and up to Williamsport. In this area, it goes by various names: Tipton, Tyrone, Sandy Ridge, Port, Snow Shoe, and Cooper.

Central Pennsylvania Travelogue: Fields Run Trail

Name: Fields Run Trail
Location: Sproul State Forest, Centre County, Pennsylvania
Date: Saturday, December 30, 2006
Click on any of the pictures for a closeup.

Between Karthaus in Clearfield County and Renovo in Clinton County, a number of streams drain the highlands of the Allegheny Plateau into the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. These streams start from springs in the rocks at the top of the plateau and then fall over 1300 feet to the river through gorgeous canyons. The rugged terrain makes access very difficult, making these stream beds excellent places for a wilderness hike.

One of those streams is Fields Run. Falling to the West Branch on its southeastern shore from Centre County, Fields Run starts near SR 144 in Burnside Township, and falls approximately 1400 feet to the West Branch near the ghost town of Birch. It is paralleled by the Fields Run Trail, an old logging road cleared near the turn of the century. The trail is completely unmarked, and almost completely overgrown for the first 1.5 miles. Later, it provides access for a number of small camps and cabins and shows signs of occasional vehicular use.

The stream is small for the first mile an a half, winding through intermittent patches of mountain laurel and hemlocks. This is excellent territory to find the Ruffed Grouse, the official bird of Pennsylvania. This game bird is about the size of a chicken and dwells on the ground, eating berries, seeds and insects. They can fly with great speed and take off at the last moment, surprising the unwary hunter with the rush of their wings. This headwater area of Fields Run is also the most likely place to see the whitetail deer or a wild turkey. I once came face to face with a Great Horned Owl in a tight patch of pines here.

After the first mile and a half, the trail widens and meets another coming from the top of the ridge. Here is the first camp along the trail, the Fields Run Camp. This is the prototypical Pennsylvania hunting cabin, approximately fifteen feet square, with outhouse and deer pole. Directly below this camp, and picture to the right are the remains of an old splash dam, a logger's contraption designed to float a timber harvest to the river by flooding a small valley and "splashing" the logs downstream. The old dam and the logging trail in the creek bottom are the only remaining signs that logging ever took place here.

From here, the path drops another 1100 feet over five miles as the valley sides get higher and steeper. Large boulders like the one on the left jut from the hillside, and cracks behind them and along the cliffs run back into the mountainsides. Who knows, perhaps there are even larger cave openings higher up the valleyside. Meanwhile, the stream gets larger and larger, being fed by several small drafts along the way, including Bog Ore Run, Burnt Shanty Run and Gaines Run. Tannic acid from leaves in the headwaters gives the stream a dusky color and reflects beautifully at times over the loose stony stream bottom.

At six miles on the trail, the stream bottom opens up for half a mile before meeting the West Branch. The Gaines Trail drops down from Fields Ridge Road on the western ridge to several camps at the mouth of the creek. The Gaines Trail Camp, pictured here, sits on small piece of private property at the stream's mouth, accessible from the Gaines Trail via four wheel drive. The Gaines Trail leads back to the top of the ridge and the Fields Ridge Road, which provides a beautiful overlook of the river, facing to the west.

The river cuts quite a gorge in this section as well. Here you can see the mouth of Fields Run and Yost Ridge, the eastern wall of the Fields Run Valley. This segment of the river is excellent for a canoe trip, with access points upstream in Karthaus and Rolling Stone and downstream in Keating and Renovo. Between Karthaus and Keating the river is only accessible by road or trail in a half dozen spots, making for a very lonely journey.

Central Pennsylvania Travelogue: Jerry Ridge

Name: Jerry Ridge Overlook
Location: Sproul State Forest, Clinton County, Pennsylvania
Date: Saturday, July 8, 2006
Click on any of the pictures for a closeup.

West Central Pennsylvania is dominated geographically by a landform known as the Allegheny Plateau. This plateau rises slowly from the west, starting near the Ohio border, and terminates in the Allegheny Front, a bold escarpment separating the lower ridge-and-valley province of the Allegheny Mountains from the higher plateau. In Clearfield County, another escarpment divides the plateau itself into the lower Pittsburgh Plateau and the Allegheny High Plateau in the north. And it's the geography of the Allegheny High Plateau that provides these beautiful scenes.

If you take the Quehanna Highway from Clearfield, you will find the Three Runs Road (just past the town of Piper), a dirt road winding into the woods of the Sproul State Forest. Now you may think you're lost, but relax- it's just the wilds of Central Pennsylvania. You'll pass a hunting camp or two, but there's no permanent habitations here in the Quehanna Wild Area, a 48000 acre wilderness area sectioned off by the state for old growth protection. The Wild Area contains large stands of old-growth timber, hundred acres tracts of white birch, and more mountain laurel than you can imagine. The Quehanna Wild Area is also home to a large population of bear, deer, bobcats, and the favorite of most tourists: the Rocky Mountain Elk. Here the elk herd is thin, and the animals are much more wary than their counterparts in Benezette. This bull elk, seen to the right, was spotted for three straight years on the Three Runs Road, and in 2004 had eight points on each antler, giving it the designation of Monarch. A rare sight indeed.

After about four miles on the Three Runs Road (named after three small streams that flow into the West Branch of the Susquehanna River and find their headwaters here), you'll find yourself on the Dutchman's Road. Keep going, and the Jerry Ridge Road will leave to the left. This road runs out along Jerry Ridge, a finger of the Allegheny High Plateau stretching between Lower Jerry Run and Round Island Run (featuring Three Falls, pictured on the left). The valley to the west contains the Lower Jerry Run Natural Area, a remote preservation area for old growth hemlock and birch trees, accessible only by foot.

The Allegheny High Plateau is known as a dissected plateau, meaning that streams and rivers have cut deep valleys into the level of the plateau, resulting in scenic canyons and gorges. And at the end of the Jerry Ridge Road you'll find the canyon of one the most scenic streams in Pennsylvania: the Sinnemahoning Creek. This sizable river draws water from Clearfield County and the Penfield area via the Bennett Branch, from Cameron County and Emporium via the Driftwood Branch, and from Potter County in the north via the First Fork. And all three branches combine upstream from the Jerry Run overlook to produces some of the highest riverbank cliffs in Pennsylvania. To the right you can see the Sinnemahoning at the feet of the Jerry Ridge.

Many of the edges of the High Plateau along the Sinnemahoning Valley provide fantastic views of the gorge. Besides this overlook of Montour Run on the Jerry Ridge, overlooks are accessible on Wyckoff Ridge, Mason Hill, Round Island Ridge, and the Keating Mountain (where the Sinnemahoning joins the West Branch). Many of these spots are remote and difficult to access, but the hike is always worth it. Jerry Ridge Road, however, is just a short hike away from three beautiful vistas of the Sinnemahoning Valley, making it the easiest trip to view the Sinnemahoning Gorge.

For more information or directions, you can obtain an official map of the Moshannon State Forest and Quehanna Wild Area from the State Forest offices at Parker Dam State Park or in the forest itself.